Overview
- Galaxy announced the Bitcoin Quantum Readiness Initiative on Tuesday, July 21, 2026, offering up to $5 million in milestone grants, a Galaxy Research publishing arm, and a Quantum Advisory Council.
- The grant program will pay milestones for work on quantum‑resistant transaction proposals, integration of post‑quantum signature schemes, wallet and custodian migration tooling, and formal security audits.
- The advisory council’s inaugural members include Barry Sanders, Damien Bérubé, and Eran Tromer, and Galaxy said it will welcome co‑funders and outside contributors to the effort.
- Researchers estimate a cryptographically relevant quantum computer could arrive between 2030 and 2033, and published analyses disagree on exposure with figures ranging from about 1.7 million BTC in legacy pay‑to‑public‑key outputs to roughly 6.9–7 million BTC that some groups call 'quantum‑exposed'.
- Moving Bitcoin to post‑quantum defenses will take years because proposals must be designed, reviewed, tested, adopted by wallets and custodians, and widely coordinated to protect users from recorded public data being exploited later.